Lockheed Martin And The Canadian Census

This is a great form letter, I added a few cents worth and sent it, I had already sent one this a.m. but thought that it is such an important issue and the way you tied together the sell out of this country is excellen, can\'t hurt to send two. While we still have a voice we better darn well use it!!!

Thanks for helping out!! Please do what you can to pass this on to your email contacts as well.

- Susan

Danm good letter and yes I used it, signed my name and email address as well. I am Canadian, not American... Allan Rock needs a good reminder just whom is paying his wages and it damn sure isn\'t the Americans.

Allan

Food for thought--Wired has discovered that a U.S.-based defence contractor used data gathered on passengers of the JetBlue airline for a military test run of a prototype terrorist screening system. See <a href="http://www.wired.com/news/conflict/0,2100,60540,00.html">Army admits using JetBlue data</a> or the short <a href="http://www.vivelecanada.ca/article.php?story=20031013084507937">article</a> on this site. <p> And we're supposed to assume that our census info will stay in the right hands?

Rock is probably getting something under the table for kneeling under the desks of the U.S. political-industrial-military complex brass!

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Dave Ruston

No one could ever accuse you of being subtle, Dave, but thanks for saying what the rest of us are thinking! That turkey must have been crossed with a tiger!!! haha

They were probably playing footsies under the table. lol.

Someone emailed me today asking that they not be put on a mailing list for participating in this action--I just wanted to let everyone know that by participating, you are only sending one email and that address is not stored anywhere by us. Our mailing lists are opt-in, opt-out meaning that you won\'t be put on a mailing list unless you specifically sign up for one yourself (see the \"Syndicate us!\" block to the left or the main menu above). That said, of course we welcome new additions to any one of our three mailing lists (discussion, take action, or site updates) and/or to our free member accounts (login members).

Honestly, I would expect to see such an outcry from Americans, not Canadians. Did any of you realize that all the production is being done IN Canada? Sure the parent company of Lockheed is U.S. based, but so are the majority of our fast food restaurants. What about Coke, Pepsi or even Wal-Mart? Are we going to boycott those, too? We might as well junk all of our cars, as well, since a non-Canadian company benefits somewhere along the way.

Folks... we\'re in a global economy. God forbid a Canadian company was scrutinized the way that Lockheed is now for offering a cost-effective solution to a country\'s census program. Don\'t tell me you\'d pay more money for a 100% Canadian made product or service even if you knew it was more expensive AND not as efficient as a non-Cdn one? If you say yes, I\'d like to see you practice this in everyday life. I think not!

Get your head out of your a$$, folks. We benefit greatly from this. Boycotting will only waste taxpayers\' money by reducing the effectiveness of the census, which enables Canadian firms (or firms interested in Canada) to enhance their business to our fellow Canucks.

Ok, I\'m done my rant!

(Now this should spark some interesting posts!)

Global economy? Nobody here is suggesting that we don`t trade cars or purchase t.v.`s from Japan, or sell lumber to China or Zimbabwe, or whatever. BUT SOME THINGS ARE NOT FOR SALE!!! Commodifying a Canadian census, or privatizing something like health care, is just the epitome of greed! I did not consent to a private, albeit FOREIGN, weapons company to do a census in Canada! That`s the problem with this so-called \'global economy.\' The corporations and the ultra wealthy think they are more entitled to the \'globe\' than the rest of the people, be it health care, education, green spaces, property, money, and yes, even private information, whether it comes from a census or your supposedly private health records! Sounds to me like you`d sell your mother for a profit if you could!!!

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Dave Ruston

A Canadian subsidiary that takes it marching orders from the US is NOT a Canadian company.

When the info will be stored by a company that makes no bones about \"we remember who we serve\" - the US government - that is troubling to say the least.

There is a proven track record of US military contractors giving away personal info to the US government.

A census about Canadians, for Canadians, to serve Canadians should be done by Canadians - end of story.

Going cheap is not always the best solution. You even admit that is the way of globalization. Does it work - most of the time it does not. We always hear about how privatization of this or that will result in more efficient delivery at a cheaper cost.

Quote me ONE TIME that has come true! From one end of this nation to the other we see how the corporate end does things - from power delivery to auto insurance it always costs more and with a degradation of delivery and service. Remember now - public - by its very name serves the public with oversight by the public and held accountable by the public. Private serves themselves for profit, with oversight by nobody, and accountable to nobody but their bean counters.

How do we benefit from this? You failed to answer or give reasoning for your assumption.

Lets take another government contract given to an American company. The Canadian Tourism Commission through Fodors commissioned the Canadian travel guide. They managed to omit a territory, misnamed another, overlooked whole sections of provinces, and left out whole cities.
So again, how was that beneficial for the few cents less it cost to go with the cheap bid? And you want the same for OUR census!? That census is a basis of funding in Canada - should we just \'trust\' them to do it right? Should we just trust them to hold the info close and not give it away?

NOT!

Thank you very much. I used some of the form but added my own arguments. I hope it works. Keep up the good work! The next election will be the first I can vote in. I look forward to it.

<i>What about Coke, Pepsi or even Wal-Mart? Are we going to boycott those, too?</i><p> I choose where to spend my money. I shop at The Bay, Canadian Tire, Home Outfitters, Save on Foods or my local stores by choice, to support Canadian Business. You can do what you want with the money you earn.<p> <i>We might as well junk all of our cars, as well, since a non-Canadian company benefits somewhere along the way.</i><p> If there were a car that was made by a Canadian company, I might consider it. Until then, I buy cars that meet my needs, and are built in Canada by Canadians, such as the Ford Crown Victoria. Hint: if the serial number begins with the number "2", it was built in Canada. Again, your money, do what you want.<p> But, as far as the government goes - that is my money, and I will let them know I am not happy with how they spend it. If TGoCanada bothered to create an internal Information Technology department, most things like this, and the gun registry could have been avoided. If they want to run Government like a business, a department such as this needs to be created.<p>

The best form of protest is not to support a political party, vote for the man or woman who is not tied to a political party.
Or run yourself as an independent candidate in the next, put your time and your money into yourself.
There is nothing to stop you from getting on the ballot, this is the best form of a civil action, you can take and yes boycott the census taking by any American Company.


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Good government is not a party government